Head of Environment Christel Vandenhouten

The maximum use of natural energy in Connector. That to Christel Vandenhouten, Head of Environment, is the major achievement in terms of sustainability.

“The energy footprint of the building is state-of-the-art”, says Vandenhouten. “The insulation standard is very ambitious. The legally imposed K-value is set at 40, but Connector does much better with a K-value of 20. A nice result for a building this size. Connector is also a low-energy building due to, among other things, the maximum use of natural daylight.”

Moreover, the building is equipped with the most modern technical installations (e.g. for air-conditioning purposes) and LED-lighting to minimise its energy consumption.

“What was important for our department, was the energy balance. Our aim was an optimal use of alternative energy sources. That’s why we carried out a study to examine which techniques were the most suitable: solar panels, a soil energy storage field or seasonal thermal energy storage (STES).”

“The study showed that for us STES offered the most benefits technically, operationally as well as financially. With STES the temperature of the ground water is used to cool the building in the summer and to heat it in the winter. With this technique, Brussels Airport is pioneering and I’m very glad that we are able to implement this for Connector, which is far from evident in an operational environment such as an airport”.